Improved means foe eecoveeihg suhebff ships



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IMPROVED MEANS FOR REGOVERING SUNKBN SHIPS.

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Be it known that I, ERNEST BAZIN, of Paris, in the empire of France, have invented a new and' useful Machine for Recovering Sunken Ships or Vessels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,

and exact description of the construction and operationot" the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making a part of this specification, in Which-- Figure 1 is a view of the net spread out on the 'surface of the Water by means of an air-tight tube, to which it is made fas. I

Figure 2, a view in elevation" of the Whole apparatus, by means of which the vessel is lifted from the bottom of the water. v

Figure 3, a. view in elevation of the net, the lower portion of which is seen as it passes through the chimney and buoy. I i

Figure 4, a longitudinal view in elevation of the lifting-buoy with superincumbent air-tight floating-buoy.

Figure 5, a section in elevation of the same, by the line A B of g. 4.

Figure 6, a plan of the same.

Figure 7, a magnied portion of the tube and the edge of the net, showing how they are joined together.

Figure 8, a magnified section of the chimney. v

Figure 9, .a Iside view of the raft submerged and ailoat; and

Figure 10, a plan of the same.

This invention has for obj ect the recovery of sunken ships or vessels. It consists in employing for raising the sunkenmass a kind of gigantic castnet,.previously spread out upon the water by means of a flexible tube lled with air supporting its edges, and held together by pieces of rope, so that when these are cut the net sinks. The centre or.head of this net passes through a sheet-iron buoy, which is made to sink down on tothe submerged ship by allowing a suitable quantity of waterto enter it, and then lightened by pumping in air when the net has been made fast to it. This latter having enveloped the ship in its folds is with the latter brought to the surface. 11n-order to' raise the ship quite outI of the water, a raft, composed of sheet-iron tubes, connected together by suitable beams, is passed underit, by allowing water to enter the tubes until they sink just under the ship, and then pumping air into them till the ivreck is quite emerged. It'W-ill be easily understood that `the water-tight hollow cylinders aforesaid may be more orless submerged by partly filling them with water, and that thiswater being driven out by pumping air into them, they may easily be brought to the surface and thus raise thewreck. 1 l v In order that the said invention may be more fully understood, I shall nour proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall refer to the several igures on the sheet of drawings hereunto Y annexed, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the figures. The means to be employed in order'to recover sunken vessels, and which are comprised in my invention' that desire to secure by Letters Patent,'consist in Vtwo operations: first, the grappling or getting a firm hold on the submerged Wreck; and, second, the raising of the same to the surface of the water. The superiority of my invention lies in being able to seize hold of the wreck in great depths without the assistance of divers, and in making use of a single'engine of colossal lifting power. For the first operation I use of a sort of huge cast-net with wide-spreading meshes, which, on being thrown on the wreck, catches hold of it fore and aft in itis folds, and su` determines the grappling of the sunken vessel or wreck. For the second -operatiouythat of lifting the vessel when enmeshed, I use a sheet-iron buoy of a peculiar form, which, when filled, is lowered on the wreck, guided in its descent by the cast-net, and after mooring the two together the whole is brought up again, on pumping the air out of the sheet-iron buoy.

- The huge cast-net A, the diameter of which is one hundred and ten metres, (one hundred yards, or thereabouts,) is circumscribed by a solid rope, C, provided with castiron bullets, D. This net is kept on the water by means of a heating tube, B, in caoutchouc, or a like material, enveloped in a cloth covering, which is illed nith air compressed to two or three atmospheres. Sixteen Wooden or metal tubes, E, placed at regular intervals Afrom each ethcr, serve lto connect'the net with the large circular floating-tube by means of small ropes, F,

Another tube in caoutchouc H conveys the compressed air into the oatingtube 5 the air comes from the pumps placed ad zoc on the vessel. kGr is the summit of the grappling-net. The lifting-buoy K is provided with a keel, L, to enable it to ride. A circular platform, M, on top of this lifting-buoy, is iilled with air, and has no communicationwhatever with the interior of the said buoy. At the bottom of this lifting-buoy are two apertures, N, to admit the water' required to sink it. Two tubes, O, give passage to the air which is to drive out the water from the lifting-buoy K through the apertures N, and that by means of :1i-branching tube, P, made of caoutchouc and communicating with the vessel which operates the salvage. A chimney, Q, passes through the centre of this buoy, exactly riveted to and forming part of the said buoy K; the chimney is round from its summit te the top of the buey, but inside this latterit assumes the form of an oval cone. The greatest diameter of this oval runs longitudinally with the buey K, this form being necessary in order `to enable the buoy to descend just above the sunken vessel, notwithstanding the greater opening of the' meshes of the net at the fore part and aft of the enineshed vessel. A cylindrical buoy, R, which I shall call the floating-buey, to distinguish it from the 1ifting-buoy, is plaeedor rests upon the platform M ofthe lifting-buoy K. This floating-buey, R, bisects into two equal parts; a space down the middle of these two parts is spared for the chimney Q to allow the junction to take place. `This floating-buey carries the windlasses, S, and a crane, T. A'rope', U, from the crane passes through the chimney Q and comes back not far from the starting point where it is fixed. This rope is intended to work the net. The-cables V serve to submerge the lifting-buoy K, by means of the windlasses S. The two rings, are for towing the buoy. The chimney Q is lengthened by means of sections of chimney Y, g. 8; each of these sections is made up of two iron rundles, three or four yards apart, in which are riveted four iron rods. The rundles are'pierced at their centre with a round hole, through which passes the cable cennecting the summit of thenet. The raft in figs. 9 and 10 is made up ef`sheet-iren cylinders, c', held together by beams of'weod. This raft is connected to an embankment, A', by means ofjointed rods, B', in iron or sheet iron. This apparatus is sunk by being filled with water, and is brought up again to the sui-face by pumping in compressed air to drive out the water. The jointed rods B', which connect the embankment A with the raft, serve also to keep this latter in a horizontal position whenever it sinks or rises. The position of the wreck atY the bottom of the water being correctly ascertained, thefnet'is then spread out from the yard-arm ef the vessel operating the salvage. vThis operation takes place by means of the floating-tubel B, the circular development ofi which is elfected by the compressed air pumped into it by means of air-pumps placed on beard the vessel used in the salvage. This development may also be effected by means of partial Heating-apparatus, not circular, made of sheet iron or weed. When this operation is performed, by means ofl a little inclined mast fixed in ay boat, the summit of the net is sustained. Sixteen bfoats, each beat having two men on board, place themselves round the'cii'cular air-tight tube that h'oldsthe net, one boat in front of each cylinder, E. These men, at a'given signal, cut all the cords, F, which bind the net to the Heating air-tight tube, B, at each cylinder, E. Thereupon the cast-net sinks instantaneously, dragged down as it is by the weight of theI bullets, and falls, closing a little in its descent, on the sunken ship, whilst the men in the boat `whose business Iit is. to take charge of the summit G of the net, out the cable of this summit G as fast as needs be, without,however, under any circumstances, parting with the utmost extremity of the said cable. The whole apparatus, as seen `in tig. 4, then takes the place of the boat which was in the'middle of thefloating net. i

The extremity a ofrthe cable U is next made fast to the extreme end, G, of the net, and'then the cable U is stretched by pulling on its other extremity, b. The object of this manoeuvring is to pass the upper end of the net ,through the chimney of the lifting-buoy K,\ and to stretch the net forcibly when itsmeshes have taken hold of the vessel fore and aft. The' immersion of the lifting-buoy K next takes place, and in the following manner: the tap setting the pipe P in communication with the open air being opened, the water Hows linto the buoy by the apertures N, and sinks it. lIts floating line' is soon on a level with the platform M; the'buoy is then full of water, and cannot iloat, so that it has to be sustained bythe floating Water-tight buoy R. yThe lifting-buey K being thus immersed, the pipe P is adjusted to the body of the air-pump, and all is made ready en board to pay out by degrees the pipe'P. The cables V andV are then slacken'ed by means of windlasses, S S. The summit of' the chimney is soon on a level with the floatingfbuoy, the net is just then completely stretched, by means of the crane T, and by slackening the windlasses S S, by means of brakes, the submersien of the buoy K is easily effected, guided, as it is, in its descent, by the net in a state of tension and passing through its chimney. Fig. 3 fully shows this operation, and it is understood that the buoy sliding down, the net necessarily tightens its meshes the lower it goes. The buoy R remains afloat on the surface of the water, its mission being to deterniine a fulcrum for the traction of the net and the sinking of the buoy K. The net must be now united with the buoy K, so that this latter may be able to lift the wreck. To effect this vlf make use of a series of cages l that adapt themselves one uponzanother; one of these cages may be seen in fig. 8, larger than shown in the other figures. By passing these cages, eachthree or four yards in height, on to the net, one after the otherin its whole length,'a kind ofitemperary` chimney, Q', is obtained, the'base ofwhichrwould rest on chimney Qand the summit of which would be out of the water, as seen in fig/2. The cables V which have served to sink` the buoy K are then' spliced to a strong cross-piece, 'laid on the upper rundle of the chimney Q', and maintain this chimney in a vertical and rigid position. The floating-buoy R Vis then separated into two parts and removed fromthe centre of operations. The air isthen introduced into the lifting-buoy K through the apertures O, by means of air-pumps, which arrives through the pipe P, The water contained in the buoy K is then driven out by the compressed'air, through the apertures N N. At a certain moment, byreasen of its lightness in the watery medium, this buoy gradually ascends, the chimney Q pushes the temporary chimney Q', the summit of which presses upwards the cross-piece, and as nothing can give way, the buoy lifts in its ascension the vessel enmeshed in the folds o f the net. The platform M of the buoy K then arrives on a level with the surface'ef 'the water. This high chimney, Q, which just, new was substantially indispensable, becomes useless when thc ascension is e'ccted.; it is therefore get rid of by inclining it slightly on one side and severing the retention ecru 3 shrouds V on the side opposite to its inclination. This is only done when the net has been made fast to the buoy K by means of the opening at m at the lower extremity of ,the chimney Q, fig. 2. "This portion of the chimney Q being now out of the water, this is easil)r performed. The cagcs,'on` falling into the water, are moored to a rope, by means of which they are hauled on board. The lifting-buoy, although immersed with its prize, is towed by the vessel operating the salvage to .its place of destination, either on a convenient shore or on a raft, as shown in gs. 9 and 10.

Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into efect, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to theprecise details above given, but claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The gigantic cast-net A, or analogous apparatus, by means of which the wreck or sunken vessel may be seized or grappled, in combination with the circular tube B, covered with cloth in caoutchouc or any other kind of supple or water-proof material, sustaining the net and allowing of its extension on the surface of the water, substantially in the manner and for 'the purpose herein 'set forth. i

2. The Heating-tubes E, in combination with the air tube B, cast-net A, to sustain and spread it out on the surface of the water, substantially as and in the manner hereinbefore described.

3. The lifting-buoy K, traversed by a chimney, so as to guide its immersion in a vertical manner, siibstanstially as hereinabove described.

4. The oating-buoy R, in combination with the lifting-buoy K, the former serving to sink and lower this latter on to the sunken vessel, substantially as hereinbcfore set forth and described.

5. The cages Y, serving to build up the temporary chimney Q, in order to facilitate the moorings above water, in combination with the lifting-buoy K, so as to connect the cast-net with the lifting-buoy K, substantially as hereinbefore set forth and described. p

6. The raft, serving 'to emerge thc wreck, substantially as hereinbefore described, and represented in figs. 9 and 10, in combination with tl1`e `embankment A', substantially as described.

E. Bazin.

Witnesses H. BONNEVILLE, HENRY FnrcKER. 

